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© 2025 Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews
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Where our lives of Jewish learning collide with our love of Nerd Culture. Join us as we explore Jewish texts, history, and values and the apparent and invisible connections to your favorite movies, characters, and hobbies. www.torahsmash.com
73 Episodes
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January 15, 2025Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy JewsEpisode 72 – Leviticus All Along …With Special Guest Rabbi Alexandria Shuval-WeinerWe are thrilled to welcome the first character from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to join us on Torah Smash, Rabbi Levin, played by real life clergy, Rabbi Alexandria Shuval-Weiner. She shares about her journey into the MCU, we discuss our thoughts of the newest Jewish character to be portrayed in this world, and we share some of our favorite parts of the s...
January 1, 2025Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy JewsEpisode 71 - The Wheel of New YearsThe Wheel of Time turns, and we return with another episode for you. Did you know that Judaism celebrates four different new years? So, that means that American Jews celebrate 5 different New Years! And if you’re stuck in a time loop, the number is much higher than that! Join us as we celebrate and mark this time on our calendars. We share why time was invented, how we decide to mark time, and question th...
December 18, 2024Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy JewsEpisode 70 - Torah Smash Jr.There are some stories in Jewish tradition and history that put the children at the center of it all. Jacob and Esau as well as Joseph teach us some valuable lessons as adults. But aren’t children just meant to be sidekicks? And how old are the children of the Torah anyway? Let’s just hope that as they grow up, they’ve learned from the mistakes of their parents.00:01:00 Jacob and Esau the adult children00:03:1...
December 4, 2024Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy JewsEpisode 69 - Die Hard is a Chanukah Movie …With Special Guest Arnon ShorrChanukah falls on Christmas Day this year, so what better way to celebrate this overlap than debating if the classic action film, Die Hard, is a Christmas movie or a Chanukkah movie? We review what makes a movie holiday specific, the subtle Chanukkah plotline, and the movie’s Jewish characters… one which may surprise you! Make sure that you cuddle on the couch with s...
November 20, 2024Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy JewsEpisode 68 - Super Mitzvot Bros. …with Special Guest Sparkle PetersThe Nintendo video game company has been filling our homes with fun and excitement for many years. Some even say that the best video game of all time was Super Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. Twitch streamer and podcaster, Sparkle Peters, joins us to discuss the innovation around the tutorial levels in video games, save skimming, and sometimes just throwing the instructions ...
November 6, 2024Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy JewsEpisode 67 - Grief, Loss, and LifesabersEthan opens his heart to all of us once again as we look back on a year of grief together with returning guest, Dr. Betsy Stone. We learn about the difference between the words grief and loss, share some of the meaningful practices during the mourning period, and hear what Star Trek has to say about the unexpected death of a loved one. We also teach Betsy what we’re supposed to call those plasma swo...
October 23, 2024Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy JewsEpisode 66 - Good Ideas Gone WrongWe recorded this episode in September of 2024, which means that we had to visit the future historical event of the time: the Bell Riots from Deep Space 9. Ethan walks us through this time travel Star Trek episode and we discuss what went wrong. They seemed like they had good intentions, but do good plans always go awry? We also visit some other future prediction events from other franchises. …Does Judaism...
October 9, 2024Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy JewsEpisode 62 - Sabra: The Hero not the Hummus …with Special Guest Sasha KaplanThe upcoming Captain America movie will include the first live action portrayal of the Israeli superhero Sabra. In this episode, we take a deep dive into Sabra’s first introduction into the Marvel Comics world, the possible powers and skills you may see on the big screen, and our predictions on what her story in the MCU will look like.00:02:41 A background on Sabra...
September 25, 2024Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy JewsEpisode 64 - The Good, The Bad, and The Antisemitic …With Special Guest Dr. Linda MaizelsIt’s been almost a year since the attack on Israel on October 7. Since that time, it hasn’t just been the war that has taken over the news. It feels like there has been such a strong increase of antisemitism locally and around the world. We discuss centuries worth of antisemitism, we ask why it seems so acceptable today, and we try to find hope for ...
September 11, 2024Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy JewsEpisode 63 - The Rav and The AcolyteIn today’s episode, we learn from each other as we discuss the newest Star Wars show, The Acolyte. We discuss the best and worst teachers among the sith and the jedi in the show. Also, did Darth Maul’s mommy make an appearance? Speaking of teaching, Ethan sith-splains Star Wars to his co hosts. 00:02:23 The Master and their student00:03:39 “The desire of the wise is to learn, and a fool’s to teach”00:...
August 28, 2024Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy JewsEpisode 62 - Deadpool and Lamed VavnikimThere are so many people in our world who are making the world a better place. Judaism calls them lamed vavnikim, or the righteous 36. But what about the people in the void who are making our world a better place? Or those who are trying to find missing anchor beings to make their own world better for their girlfriend who doesn’t love them anymore? They’re good too, right? Well, maybe they’re not “Av...
August 14, 2024Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy JewsEpisode 61 - Inside Mussar 2Emotions can sometimes be difficult to handle and we find that they’re also often pretty Jewish. Join us as we explore the two joyfully sad movies by Pixar, Inside Out 1 and 2, and the connections to a very popular Jewish practice. We let the little voices inside our heads out for this conversation and we share the emotions that we wish made appearances in the films. Plus a hot take: Bing Bong is Jewish.00:00:39...
July 31, 2024Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy JewsEpisode 60 - All Nerds Think About Is Sects …with Special Guest Melissa RaubJudaism is divided into sects or branches, but they all share a few core beliefs. We agree that they don’t sit on a spectrum, but perhaps they live in some kind of venn diagram? But, reviewing the sects of Judaism isn’t enough for us, we also explore the sects of Nerdaism. Or, as Barak preferred to call them, the cool kids tables.00:03:21 The denominations of Judaism...
July 17, 2024Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy JewsEpisode 59 - The Messiah ElementNot the first element, hydrogen. Not the second, the third, or even the fourth element. No, this episode is about the Fifth Element, and it’s just… perfect. Grab a flying taxi and head to the (for some reason) garbage filled airport because you won two tickets aboard the Flohston Paradise cruise ship! Is it possible to save the world from destruction? Or is that actually how we save it? Join us meat popsicles ...
July 3, 2024Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy JewsEpisode 58 - X-Men Again Again …with Guest Host Joel SwedloveIn this episode, our guest host, Joel Swedlove, leads our team through a quote quote from a rabbi with a funny name name. We discuss the ever popular X-Men ‘97 animated series that recently completed and explore the similarities and differences in how we watched it. Not just because it’s a different show, but because we are different people than when we first saw it. You’re not gonn...
June 19, 2024Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy JewsEpisode 57 - To Everything There Is A Bluey…with Special Guest Cantor Emily SimkinThis week’s episode of Bluey is called… Torah Smash! Sometimes special episodes come into our lives, this is one of those episodes. For real life! We talk about our feelings around the Heeler’s “moving” episode and all the advice that we’ve learned from a cartoon dog (and from real people as well). Life can get ruff sometimes, so we hope you find this episode t...
June 5, 2024Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy JewsEpisode 56 - 2nd Anniversary Special - Paraders of the Blessed Ark - Part TwoThe second part of this year’s epic adventure to celebrate our podcast’s two years of being Jewish and nerdy. Can our heroes defeat this mysterious giant? Can they complete their mission? What happens to Tirza’s cat rock? Find out the answers to these questions and more on this epic anniversary episode of a Torah Smashed version of Dungeons & Dragons.00:01:40 The...
May 22, 2024Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy JewsEpisode 55 - 2nd Anniversary Special - Paraders of the Blessed Ark - Part 1To celebrate two years of being Jewish and Nerdy, we invited some of our previous guests from the past year back to the show for a Torah Smashed version of Dungeons & Dragons. Each player chose a biblical character to portray (character descriptions below) and worked together to rescue the innocents and protect one of the most famous artifacts of the Torah.00:00:37...
May 8, 2024Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy JewsEpisode 54 - Very Special Episodes …with Guest Host Rabbi Alan CookThis week’s episode will talk about something very special. Since we want it to be extra memorable, we’ll bring in a special guest. That should help ensure that the purpose and topic stick out in your mind. Did that work for you growing up with the very special episodes of your favorite tv shows growing up? Does that still work for you now? Find out the answer to these question...
April 24, 2024Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy JewsEpisode 53 - Destiny ReportYou’re going to listen to this episode. How do I know? Because it’s destined to happen. The fact that you’re reading this now already tells me that this episode is in your feed. Just because you're reading this doesn’t change the fact that it’s going to happen. You see the dilemma right? If you listen, then our Torah Smash precogs were right and the system works. If you don’t listen, then our precogs were wrong an...
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